4857. Go to the Bookworm Gardens in Sheboygan

Sheboygan has a botanical garden but unlike many other botanical gardens it is a storybook garden. Because I love books, especially children’s books, and flowers, despite a black thumb, I’ve always wanted to check out Bookworm Gardens. I didn’t want to drive to Sheboygan just to check out the gardens, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to present itself to get there. When Andrea needed a calculator, I finally found the perfect opportunity to drop off her Christmas present (just a few months late…) and hit Bookworm Gardens with Ryan, Tracy, and Carly.

Bookworm Gardens is unique. There’s one whole section devoted to music and people can make music with various instruments. Some are strung in trees; others are lose on the ground. It is very interactive and fun. There is plenty of picture opportunities through the grounds as well that don’t even include climbing and exploring the buildings, creatures, and storybook characters.

Some of my favorites were the three bears all done in vines, the three little pigs’ houses, and the magic school bus. 

Whistling Straits was also a favorite.

Besides the larger displays such as the three bears, there a lot of little storybook characters/houses replicas. Frankie’s dog house…. The duck from Click, Clack, Moo, Johnny Appleseed’s Tree, and a lot more that I can’t even recall.

Yes, the storybook elements are impressive and makes kids get excited for reading, the botanical gardens themselves are gorgeous. Many of the flowers and plants attract butterflies as well so there were a plethora of butterflies.

I wish we had something like this closer. I could find a nice nook and read with a  good book. They are fun to explore and I am sure I would find more details on future visits. The best part is it is free (well donations are accepted) and is great fun for the whole family.

933. Get into the Guinness Book of Records

Getting in the Guinness Book of World Records is nearly impossible unless you have some sort of talent or lots of time on your hands. I looked into it once to see if I could get the bucket list in the Guinness Book of World Records and it was a hugely complicated process and I couldn’t figure out if it really even qualified to be in the book.So when I saw that Tunderland was trying to set the world record of the number of painted windows displayed at one time and was asking the public for help in painting windows, I added it to my list of things to do Saturday. Tunderland was doing this as part of Windows for a Cause an annual fundraiser for Make a Wish. The best windows were going to be auctioned off and while the rest of them would be displayed for a short period of time.

Painting a window was way easier than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a lot of people in a small area. Since it was in the new convention center downtown, they actually had a ton of space. Tables were set up across the length of the room with windows already on them.

You picked up a plate of paint as you came in along with some brushes. Then you went to find a window to paint. I had a design in mind so I didn’t want a divided window.

Once I found my window, I set about painting it. It was nothing fancy but it was different than what I usually paint. I went with an umbrella and rain drops and decided to call it Rainy Days.

After I finished painting my window, I took it up to the drop off station where I got to take a picture with my window showing I was part of the World Record Attempt. Then I handed it off and went home.

There was a gala where Tunderland was auctioning off the windows tonight. It was free. I went to check out the window display. They broke the world record but either stacking the windows in piles counted or they had them all displayed prior to setting up for the gala. 

I wanted to see all 1600+ windows on display but only the top 50 were displayed.

It is still pretty awesome to say I was a part of the history and got in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

I have the picture to prove it J

Paint the Town

The third Friday of every month during the summer is Art on the Town. I’m usually gone for August but this year since the hubby decided not to do a World Series, we were home. He went and did his football game while Danielle and I headed to Paint the Town – the theme for August.

Because the weather was crappy earlier in the day we weren’t sure if Art on the Town was going to go on as scheduled but it did. However, maybe the weather deterred some artists because it was kind of lame. There were far less artists than usual painting and displaying their paintings than other Art on the Town events that we’ve been to.

Stephanie from book club was there displaying her artwork. She does amazing watercolor needlepoint pieces that if I could figure out where to put one, I would have gladly bought one (or several). She paints fabric with watercolor and the stitches a design on top of it. She said that she had to use her hair dryer to get the paint to dry so she can do the rest of the piece earlier in the day.

The coolest thing about the whole evening was new yarn warps on the light poles and other signs.

Danielle and I were about to give up and head home but we decided to check out Windows of Light because it is such an unique store and they usually have something going on for Art on the Town. To our delight, Carli Ihede was creating partner pieces. You would draw a squiggly line and she would create a random drawing from that squiggly line for the bargain price of FREE. That’s my favorite word…..

Maybe I should have paid her. Danielle got a beautiful, fair maiden…..

I got a pair of mice!!!! Oh the irony.

We checked out a few shops along the way and made a few mental notes for Christmas presents. It is nice that stores stay open late on Art on the Town so you can browse the shops as well.

It wasn’t my favorite Art on the Town event but it definitely beat sitting home all night. I am hoping it was just the weather keeping people away. Hopefully next year they will have a better turn out and maybe I will get to go again.

957. See the Octagon House Museum

Half the time I wonder where I came I up the things that ended up on my bucket list. Take the Octagon House for instance. There are many Octagon Houses in the US – which one did I mean and why on earth would I have wanted to see an oddly shaped house. However, once I determined which Octagon House I must have meant and read about it, I wanted to see it as soon as possible.

The Octagon House is in Watertown and while it’s not THAT far away (90 minutes), it seems a bit far to drive just for a house. I had several opportunities to see it the last few years but something always deterred those plans. I insisted that we stop on the way back from vacation. The problem was we had to be there by 2 to get the last tour. We barely made it thanks to construction.

I have to admit whoever came up with the concept of octagonal and hexagonal houses in the 1800s was a genius. John Richards built the octagon house in Waterford for his family in 1854 and was one of the largest homes in Wisconsin built prior to the Civil War. The home stayed in the Richards family until 1938 when it was donated to the Watertown Historical Society.

On the guided tour, unlike any of the other guided house tours this vacation, we were able to see all the rooms on all 5 floors – 2 floors for the family, a basement with the kitchen in it, a floor for the help, and the copula at the very top of the house. In the center of the house, were central heating, running water, and ventilating systems which were very modern and ingenious at the time. This system allowed for hot water for the tub and sink on the second floor. I would say it’s an engineering marvel.

After seeing the house, we had the opportunity to see the first Kindergarten in the US and a barn as well.

The Octagon House is worth the drive. If you are ever in the area, I would highly recommend stopping to check it out. It is only open seasonally though because it does not have any modern conveniences like heat.

Stadium Tour 2018 -- Principle Field

When planning our vacations, I look at major league teams and then filter my way down to A Teams in the area and on the way back home. Since we were leaving Omaha, we had several possibilities of teams in Iowa to see. The one that we both wanted see was the Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs Triple-ATeam. Lucky for us there were home on the day we needed them to be.

Since it was raining on and off for most of the drive to Des Moines, I checked the Cubs Facebook page to make sure the game was still on. To my pleasant surprise, last night’s game was postponed in the 5^th inning and would continue at about 5:00 tonight. Then the 2^nd game would be a 7 inning game. Free baseball (with a shortened game) was okay with us.

The Iowa Cubs play at Principle Field in downtown Des Moines. They charged $10 for parking which is the most any minor league team we have visited to date has charged. Most teams charged $5. Typical Cubs….

We got to Principle Field early enough and browsed the team store. We finally found the minor league baseball passport and picked it. We got our first official stamp in it and it had to be the Cubs.

The other nice thing about getting the passport was there is a spot for autographs. Since we were there early and the Cubs were playing the Colorado Spring Sky Sox, the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, we were able to watch warm ups and stretching. Because our seats were by the Sky Sox dug out, we had a few opportunities during warm ups to get a few autographs in our new passport.

In typical minor league ball park fashion, there was plenty of gimmicks and games between innings – some of which were carried over from last night. The featured a lot of kids in them. The hubby comes to see the park and the baseball, he could care less about the frills. I don’t mind them so much because it’s something else to pay attention to besides baseball.

My favorite part of the Principle Field is the manual score board. Just like Wriggly Field, the score board is manually changed after every half inning or when a run scores. I love the old school manual scoreboards.

Food options were relatively inexpensive. We both had decent chicken tenders. There were tables in the concourse to sit and eat at instead of balancing your food on your lap at your seats. Besides your typical concessions, there was also a beer garden with a ton of craft beers.

The games themselves weren’t all that exciting. The Sky Sox won the first game and got trounced in the second game. Our seats were pretty close to the action and if it wasn’t for all the little kids around us in the second game, I’m sure we would have taken home a ball.

Principle Field is a nice park but it’s full of the typical Cub fans. Some of them are friendly others are just as rude as they are in Chicago. I’m glad we got to see the Brewers Triple A team since most of those guys bounced between Colorado Springs and Milwaukee. If our travels take us through Des Moines, we may stop again but I wouldn’t go out of our way to come back.